FALA New York Accepting Nominations for Annual Awards!

FALA New York is committed to encouraging and recognizing innovative leadership that advances New York’s vibrant and growing Filipino-American community.  We are therefore pleased to announce that we are accepting nominations for the first ever annual FALA New York Rising Star / FALA New York Business Trailblazer / and FALA New York Civic Visionary Awards!  Awards will be presented to recipients at the FALA New York Annual Dinner on July 20, 2016, to be held at the New York City Bar.  We invite you to take this opportunity to tell us about someone who should be honored for their accomplishments and contributions. 

FALA New York Rising Star Award 

The FALA New York Rising Star award recognizes lawyers who have been practicing law for no more than ten years, have demonstrated outstanding promise in their  respective fields, and whose achievements have led to a significant and ongoing positive impact for Filipino-Americans in New York.   Special consideration will be given to nominees who show tremendous promise and potential as a future leader of the Filipino-American legal community. 

FALA New York Business Trailblazer Award 

The FALA New York Business Trailblazer applauds innovators in the private sector whose record reflects exceptional commitment and substantial contributions to the Filipino-American community. This award category recognizes business leaders who have pioneered innovative practices or broken new ground in the marketplace, or have invested significantly in fostering a stronger community.

FALA New York Civic Visionary Award 

The FALA New York Civic Visionary Award honors individuals and programs that exemplify excellence and dedication to serving the needs of Filipino-Americans in New York. This award recognizes outstanding service or extraordinary accomplishments in the public, non-profit, or government sectors, and in a broad range of fields–including the arts, academia, or the legal profession. Award recipients demonstrate exceptional commitment and advocacy in connection with issues that impact the lives of Filipino-Americans.  

Please submit your nominations to [email protected] with “Annual Award Nomination” in the subject line by midnight on June 6, 2016, and let us know why you think the individual or program should be recognized.  

At a minimum, nominations should include: 

  1. name of person submitting nomination; 
  2. nominee’s name; 
  3. nominee’s company/organizational affiliation; 
  4. nominee’s website, if any; 
  5. award for which the nomination is being submitted; and 
  6. a brief summary of the nominee’s accomplishments/basis for nomination.

Ms. JD Honors Awards – Call for Nominations

Ms. JD will close its 8th Annual Conference this year with the the Ms. JD Honors Reception, honoring recipients of the Ms. JD Honors awards – women and men who have made a notable
contribution to the legal field.  Nominations for the Ms. JD Honors awards (listed below) are
open until Wednesday, November 25, 2015.
 For more information about
the nomination process, please go to: http://ms-jd.org/blog/article/ms.-jd-honors-awards-nominations-open-until-november-18-2015

This year’s awards are: 

Woman
of Inspiration Award
 – To a woman who, regardless of her practice
area or type of practice, inspires others by her commitment and passion to her
work. (2 available.)

Student
of Inspiration Award 
– To a male or female law student who
inspires others through their commitment and passion to their legal studies,
extracurricular activities or to a particular cause.

Road
Less Traveled Award
 – To a woman who is using her J.D. in a
unique, non-traditional, way to pursue an issue or cause that she is passionate
about. (Need not be in legal practice.)

Sharing
Her Passion Award
 – To a woman who has practiced for more than
ten years who is inspiring younger women lawyers through sponsorship,
mentorship, and sharing her passion for the practice. 

Women’s
Strength in Numbers Award 
– To two or more women who have
partnered with one another to create a unique program, business, or
organization. (The group may include men and the success need not be in legal
practice.)

TIM
Initiative Award
 – To a man who is an active champion for women’s
advancement in the legal profession. Ms. JD launched The Incredible Men (TIM)
Initiative in 2014 to celebrate men who not only value equality and diversity
in the profession, but earnestly and enthusiastically support women and women’s
initiatives.

Law
School Chapter Award
 – To a law school organization that
champions the advancement of women law students through, for example, chapter
initiatives (including pre-law initiatives), programming or recruitment.

METROPOLITAN BLACK BAR ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK CITY (“MBBA”) ANNOUNCES ITS 2014 ANNIVERSARY AWARDS GALA HONOREES

CONTACT: Dionne Gill                                      FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TELEPHONE: 212.964.1645                         Wednesday, February 5, 2014

EMAIL: [email protected] www.mbbanyc.org

METROPOLITAN BLACK BAR ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK CITY (“MBBA”) ANNOUNCES ITS 2014 ANNIVERSARY AWARDS GALA HONOREES

MBBA President, R. Nadine Fontaine, announces that the MBBA will hold its Thirtieth Anniversary Awards Gala on Friday, May 16, 2014 at Pier Sixty in New York, NY. The theme of the Gala is “The Power of Us: Celebrating 30 Years of Leadership, Innovation and Community.” Michele Coleman Mayes, Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of the New York Public Library and Theodore V. Wells, Jr., Partner and Co-Chair of the Litigation Department, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, LLP will serve as Honorary Co-Chairs of the MBBA Gala.

In addition to the President, the MBBA Gala Committee members include Christine Appah, Richard D. Boyd, Jason M. Clark, Paula T. Edgar, Luwick Francois, Hon. Cheryl J. Gonzales, Co-Chair of the Gala Committee, Y. Gail Goode, Taa Grays, Andrew Hannibal, Deborah L. Martin, Moya O’Conner, Francesca J. Perkins, Yamicha Stephenson, Allison B. Tomlinson and Hon. Alvin M. Yearwood, Co-Chair of the Gala Committee.

The 2014 MBBA Annual Gala Honorees are as follows:

Trailblazer of the Year:

Raymond J. McGuire, Global Head of Corporate and Investment

Banking Citigroup, Inc.

Corporate Counsel of the Year:

Duane L. Hughes, Managing Director

Morgan Stanley

Private Practitioner of the Year:

Carmen J. Lawrence, Partner

King & Spalding, LLP

Jurist of the Year:

Hon. Sheila Abdus -Salaam, Associate Judge

New York State Court of Appeals

Public Servant of the Year:

Jennifer Jones Austin, CEO & Executive Director

Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies

Co-Chair, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Transition Team

Member of the Year:

Shirley Stewart Farmer, First President (Posthumously)

Metropolitan Black Bar Association

For more information on this event, or to schedule an interview with MBBA President R. Nadine Fontaine, please contact Francesca J. Perkins at [email protected]. For sponsorship inquiries, please contact Paula T. Edgar at [email protected].

PRESS RELEASE: AABANY To Honor Vernon Jordan and Other Honorees at 25th Annual Dinner

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE         Contact: Yang Chen, Executive Director

February 24, 2014                                                                 (718) 228-7206

AABANY TO HONOR VERNON JORDAN WITH “I4 LEADERSHIP AWARD” AT 25TH ANNUAL DINNER TO BE HELD AT CIPRIANI WALL STREET

NEW YORK – On Wednesday, February 26, 2014, the Asian American Bar Association of New York (“AABANY”) will hold its 25th Anniversary Annual Dinner at Cipriani Wall Street.  Attendees of the 2014 AABANY Annual Dinner will include prominent federal and state judges, elected officials and dignitaries, attorneys from large and small law firms, corporate law departments, prosecutors’ offices and government agencies.  AABANY’s 2013 Annual Dinner attracted more than 750 members of the legal and business communities from New York and beyond.  This year AABANY is pleased to announce that its 2014 Annual Dinner honorees will be:

  • Vernon E. Jordan, Jr., Senior Managing Director Lazard Frères & Co. LLC
  • Randal S. Milch, Executive Vice President, Public Policy, and General Counsel Verizon Communications Inc.
  • AALDEF (Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund)

Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. will receive the AABANY I4 Leadership Award.  The I4 Leadership award is presented to a leader who is an ICON, embodying the highest IDEALS and INSPIRING others while making a real and lasting IMPACT in the community and society.  Mr. Jordan, a Senior Managing Director at Lazard Frères & Co. LLC, the financial advisory and asset management firm, also remains Senior Counsel at the law firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, where he practices general, corporate, legislative and international law in Washington, D.C.    

Randal S. Milch is Executive Vice President, Public Policy, and General Counsel of Verizon Communications Inc.  He leads the company’s public policy, legal, regulatory, government affairs and security groups.  From 2006 until being named to his current position in October 2008, Mr. Milch served as the Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Verizon Business, responsible for all legal services and external affairs support for the company’s global enterprise carrier. Before that, Milch served as the Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Verizon’s domestic telecom business.  He was appointed to the latter position in 2000, upon the merger of Bell Atlantic and GTE.  He sits on the Verizon Leadership Council, the corporation’s senior operating and policy making body.  At Verizon, Mr. Milch has championed diversity through the creation of a supervisory diversity council within the legal department.  Mr. Milch will receive AABANY’s Corporate Counsel Leadership Award.

The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), which was founded in 1974 and is celebrating its 40th anniversary, is a national organization that protects and promotes the civil rights of Asian Americans.  By combining litigation, advocacy, education, and organizing, AALDEF works with Asian American communities across the country to secure human rights for all.  AALDEF focuses on critical issues affecting Asian Americans, including immigrant rights, civic participation and voting rights, economic justice for workers, educational equity, housing and environmental justice, and the elimination of anti-Asian violence, police misconduct, and human trafficking.  AALDEF will receive AABANY’s Public Advocacy Award.

“We are deeply honored and humbled that such a legendary defender of legal rights as Vernon Jordan will be helping AABANY commemorate our 25th anniversary at our Annual Dinner, along with such notable leaders in their respective corporate and community legal spheres as Randal Milch and AALDEF,” said Mike Huang, AABANY President.

For more information about AABANY, or this event, please contact Yang Chen, AABANY Executive Director, at (718) 228-7206, or direct any media inquiries to [email protected].

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The Asian American Bar Association of New York was formed in 1989 as a not-for-profit corporation to represent the interests of New York Asian-American attorneys, judges, law professors, legal professionals, paralegals and law students.  The mission of AABANY is to improve the study and practice of law, and the fair administration of justice for all by ensuring the meaningful participation of Asian Americans in the legal profession.

MBBA Press Release: 2014 MBBA Thirtieth Anniversary Awards Gala Honorees

Dear MBBA Members and Supporters:
 
On behalf of President R. Nadine Fontaine, the Officers and the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Black Bar Association, we are pleased to announce that we are holding our Thirtieth Anniversary Awards Gala on Friday, May 16, 2014 at Pier Sixty, New York, NY.  
 
The 2014 MBBA Anniversary Awards Gala Honorees are as follows:
 
Trailblazer of the Year:
Raymond J. McGuire
Global Head of Corporate and Investment Banking
Citigroup, Inc.

Corporate Counsel of the Year:
Duane L. Hughes
Managing Director
Morgan Stanley
 
Private Practitioner of the Year:

Carmen J. Lawrence
Partner
Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP

Jurist of the Year:
Honorable Sheila Abdus Salaam
Associate Judge
New York State Court of Appeals
 
Public Servant of the Year:
Jennifer Jones Austin
CEO & Executive Director, Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies
Co-Chair, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Transition Team

Member of the Year:
Shirley Stewart Farmer
First MBBA President

Download the formal press release here.  To purchase tickets early and at the discounted rate, please visit: https://mbba30anniversaryawardsgala.eventbrite.com.  If you are interested in learning more about the 2014 Awards Gala, please email the Gala Committee at [email protected] or visit us online at www.mbbanyc.org.

NAPABA PRESS RELEASE: NAPABA BESTOWS SPECIAL HONORS AT 25TH ANNUAL CONVENTION

National Asian Pacific American Bar Association

1612 K Street NW, Suite 1400
Washington, DC 20006


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 12, 2013

Contact: Azizah Ahmad
(202) 775-9555

NAPABA BESTOWS SPECIAL HONORS AT 25TH ANNUAL CONVENTION

WASHINGTON — The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) honored individual and law firm recipients of its annual awards at its 25th Annual Convention in Kansas City, MO, on Nov. 7-10, 2013.  The awards bestowed were the Senator Daniel K. Inouye NAPABA Trailblazer Award, Best Lawyers Under 40 Award, President’s Award, Women’s Leadership Award, Affiliate of the Year, APA-Owned Law Firm of the Year, and Law Firm Diversity Award.

The Trailblazer Award, which is NAPABA’s highest honor, recognizes individuals who have demonstrated vision, courage, and tenacity, and who have made substantial and lasting contributions to the Asian Pacific American (APA) legal profession, as well as to the broader APA community. On Friday, November 8, 2013, NAPABA held a special ceremony to rename the Trailblazer Award in honor of the late Senator Daniel K. Inouye and presented the 2013 Senator Daniel K. Inouye NAPABA Trailblazer Award to the following recipients:

  • Hon. Daniel K. Inouye, U.S. Senator (posthumously awarded)
  • Lowell Chun-Hoon, Partner, King, Nakamura & Chun-Hoon
  • Hon. Lynn R. Nakamoto, Judge, Oregon Court of Appeals
  • Hon. Maryka Omatsu, Justice, Ontario Court of Justice, Canada
  • Brian A. Sun, Partner, Jones Day
  • Hon. John M. Tran, Judge, Circuit Court of Fairfax County, VA

The 2013 Best Lawyers Under 40 Awards were presented at NAPABA’s Anniversary Gala and Celebration Dinner on November 9, 2013. This award recognizes talented APA attorneys under the age of 40 who have achieved prominence in the practice of law while demonstrating an unwavering dedication to the APA community. NAPABA proudly announces the 2013 Best Lawyers Under 40 Award recipients:

  • Jason J. DeJonker, Seyfarth Shaw LLP
  • Sandra S. Fujiyama, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
  • Albert Giang, Caldwell Leslie & Proctor, PC
  • Mike F. Huang, Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP
  • Jin Y. Hwang, Verizon Enterprise Solutions
  • Christopher C. Javillonar, Bryan Cave LLP
  • Christopher D. Kang, Office of the White House Counsel
  • Winifred V. Kao, Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Asian Law Caucus
  • Eugene Kim, Gresham Savage Nolan & Tilden
  • Edward C. Lee, Aetna Inc.
  • John Park, Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis LLP
  • Michael H. Park, Dechert LLP
  • Rudhir Patel, Apple Inc.
  • Smeeta Ramarathnam, U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission
  • Steven Y. Reeves, Faegre Baker Daniels, LLP
  • Asim Rehman, MetLife
  • Betty Song, Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Los Angeles
  • Sanya Sukduang, Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP
  • David J. Tsai, Perkins Coie LLP
  • Rocky C. Tsai, Ropes & Gray LLP

NAPABA Past President Paul O. Hirose was honored with the 2013 President’s Award for his continued dedication to NAPABA and the broader APA community, and, in particular, for his work in fighting human trafficking.

This year, J. Weili Cheng, Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC, was awarded the 2013 Women’s Leadership Award for her significant contributions to the advancement of women in the legal profession.

The 2013 Affiliate of the Year Award was presented to the Asian American Lawyers Association of Massachusetts. This award was established to recognize outstanding local NAPABA affiliates and their best practices and accomplishments in their respective local communities.

The 2013 Law Firm Diversity Award honors law firms that recruit and retain APA lawyers and promote them to equity partnership and firm leadership. The award celebrates law firm successes in recognizing the potential, supporting the promise, and raising the influence of APA lawyers. The recipients of the inaugural Law Firm Diversity Award were:

  • Bird, Marella, Boxer, Wolpert, Nessim, Drooks & Lincenberg, P.C.
  • Lim Ruger
  • Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Last year, NAPABA established the APA-Owned Law Firm of the Year Award to recognize law firms that have achieved prominence and distinction in the legal profession while advancing the goals and ideals of NAPABA and APA legal advocacy groups. The award celebrates law practices that embrace the APA community while maintaining the highest ethical and legal standards in our profession. The 2013 APA-Owned Law Firm of the Year Award was presented to Kobre & Kim LLP.

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The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) is the national association of Asian Pacific American attorneys, judges, law professors, and law students. NAPABA represents the interests of over 40,000 attorneys and 67 national, state, and local Asian Pacific American bar associations. Its members include solo practitioners, large firm lawyers, corporate counsel, legal service and non-profit attorneys, and lawyers serving at all levels of government. NAPABA continues to be a leader in addressing civil rights issues confronting Asian Pacific American communities. Through its national network of committees and affiliates, NAPABA provides a strong voice for increased diversity of the federal and state judiciaries, advocates for equal opportunity in the workplace, works to eliminate hate crimes and anti-immigrant sentiment, and promotes the professional development of people of color in the legal profession.